Finally, A Use for All Those Phone Books

How many phone books do you get a year?

How many do you use?

When we moved into this house there were eight gigantic phone books and four small ones sitting on a closet shelf. The shelf was sagging under the weight. Two days after our phone service was turned on, another two or three books were delivered.

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t used a phone book in years. Everything’s online! Maybe it’s time for those businesses trying to make a buck with their version of the Yellow Pages to rethink their business model. Enough with the dead trees already.

On the positive side, phone books don’t have to be a complete waste. Like any other book, they can be modified into something useful and fun. This week’s Once A Book project turns an old phone book into a pen and pencil holder.

Chica at the ChicaAndJo.com, posted this tutorial on how to Recycle a phone book into a pen organizer. The tutorial has photos to help with the process, and although there are a lot of steps, it seems straight forward. It’s a great way to do something useful with these dinosaurs, but if you’re feeling more ambitious (and have a lot of phone books), here’s an option.

Joking aside, the phone books are not just a nuisance in the closet. They use too many resources: paper, ink, gas for delivery, for something that most people toss directly into recycling, or worse, the trash. To stop delivery, visit Yellow Pages Go Green.

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4 thoughts on “Finally, A Use for All Those Phone Books”

I totally agree. They need to go green! They have a website now anyway! I guess there are just still some people out there that don’t use the internet (my 95 year old grandmother, at least) and need the phonebook. In this case, I think you should be able to request or opt in with your phone provider once you sign up. Saves tress, gas, money, etc!

Oh, I don’t know . . . phone books have their advantages. If you’re alone at night, the power has been cut off or your computer is down, you can use a phone book to while away the time in the candlelight. Just think of those names you’ll come across, people you knew never even existed!